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Press
Release
Grading
of beach water quality released
The Environmental
Protection Department (EPD) today (May 4) released the latest
grading of beaches to inform the public about the water quality
of beaches in Hong Kong.
"Among
the 37 beaches, 15 beaches are found to be in 'Good' condition
(Grade 1), 14 are 'Fair' (Grade 2), seven are 'Poor' (Grade
3) and one 'Very Poor' (Grade 4)," a spokesman for the EPD
said.
"Grade
1" beaches are:
| Chung
Hom Kok (S) |
Hap
Mun Bay (S) |
| Deep
Water Bay (S) |
Kiu
Tsui (S) |
| Hairpin
(S) |
Trio
(S) |
|
Middle Bay (S) |
Cheung
Sha Upper (S) |
|
South Bay (S) |
Tong Fuk (S) |
| St.
Stephen's (S) |
Hung Shing Yeh (S) |
| Turtle
Cove (S) |
Kwun
Yam Wan (S) |
| Lo
So Shing (S) |
|
"Grade
2" beaches are :
| Repulse
Bay (S) |
Butterfly
(S) |
| Shek
O (S) |
Cheung Sha Lower |
| Stanley
Main Beach (S) |
Pui O (S) |
| Cafeteria
New (S) |
Tung
Wan, Cheung Chau (S) |
| Cafeteria
Old |
Discovery
Bay* |
| Golden
Beach (S) |
Clear
Water Bay First Beach (S) |
| Kadoorie
(S) |
Clear
Water Bay Second (S) |
"Grade
3" beaches are :
| Casam
(S) |
Hoi
Mei Wan |
| Gemini |
Tung
Wan (Ma Wan) (S) |
| Silverstrand
(S) |
Silvermine
Bay (S) |
| Big
Wave Bay (S) |
|
The "Grade
4" beach is Lido (S)
The beach
with an asterisk is a non-gazetted beach while those with
(S) have shark prevention nets installed.
"Comparing
with the grading released last week, Big Wave Bay and Gemini
have upgraded from 'Grade 4' to 'Grade 3'; Clear Water Bay
First Beach and Stanley Main Beach have changed from 'Grade
1' to 'Grade 2'; Silvermine Bay from 'Grade 2' to 'Grade 3'
and Lido from 'Grade 3' to 'Grade 4'.
"The deterioration
of water quality of the beaches is mainly due to the rain
in the past few weeks which flushed the pollutants from the
un-sewered beach hinterland into the water," the spokesman
said.
"During
the bathing season, beach grades will be released every week
before the weekend in order to provide timely information
for the weekend beach-goers.
"The latest
beach grading is also available from the EPD homepage at http://www.info.gov.hk/epd/
or the EPD's beach hotline at 2511 6666," he added.
Under
the grading system, beaches are classified into four grades
according to the level of E. coli in the water.
The beach
grading is calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of
the E. coli count on the five most recent sampling occasions.
"Grade
4" would also be given to a beach when its last E. coli reading
exceeds a high figure irrespective of the geometric mean.
The spokesman
said: "At present, five gazetted beaches, namely Anglers',
Approach, Ting Kau, Castle Peak and Rocky Bay, are closed
to swimmers for the whole bathing season because of their
poor water quality or lack of beach facilities. The public
are advised not to swim at those closed beaches.
In general,
many beaches are likely to be more polluted than the beach
grades suggest during and after periods of heavy rain. Bathers
should avoid swimming at beaches for up to three days after
a storm or heavy rainfall.
The public
are also advised to avoid swimming at the "Grade 4" beaches
until the water quality has improved.
End/Friday,
May 4, 2001
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